1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cover type endoscope apparatus for examining body cavities, such endoscope apparatus having a covered endoscope mounted thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, endoscopes have come to be widely used not only in the industrial, but in the medical field as well. In the medical field, endoscopes are inserted into the living beings so as to observe or treat diseased parts. Since it is inserted into living beings, a patient's body liquids or mucin may adhere to the observation window disposed on the tip portion of the insertion portion of the endoscope, making it impossible to fully observe diseased parts. Accordingly, an endoscope apparatus is provided with an air and water supply mechanism, capable of supplying liquid to an observation window, for cleaning and blowing off water remaining on the observation window by using supplied air. These air and water supply functions are performed via air and water supply tubes by operating buttons disposed on the hand side of the endoscope.
Some endoscopes are provided with a suction tube for sucking in waste or mucin from living beings and discharging them outside the living beings, and with a treatment tool channel (a clamp channel) through which a treatment tool is passed for performing treatment. As described above, a plurality of sucion tubes, treatment tool channels or the like as well as air and water supply tubes are provided.
It is necessary to quickly clean and sterilize endoscopes which have been used for treatment so that it can be used for the next patient. However, the process for completely cleaning and sterilizing the endoscope is laborious and time-consuming, causing reduced efficiency.
Due to the above, recently, such a cover type endoscope apparatus is used that the cleaning and sterilizing of an endoscope is simplified by using, for each case, the endoscope covered with a cover and discarding the cover after the treatment is finished.
Only the tubes to be opened inside the living beings of a patient are provided on the cover side of this type of endoscope. The cover type endoscope provided with observation means or illumination means is covered with a cover so as to prevent it from being directly in contact with living beings.
The above cover type endoscopes have been disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,722 and 3,162,190.
When the cover type endoscope apparatus is used for examination or the like, it has been required that this apparatus be classified as an apparatus which should be used in a clean area where a sterile state must be reliably secured immediately before examination and an apparatus which should be used in an area other than the clean area (hereinafter described as a general area) and that preparation, examination, treatment and disposal thereof be performed. Therefore, since persons in charge of their respective areas reliably manage apparatuses in areas in charge on their own responsibility and have always made efforts to perform careful and quick operations while they accurately judge which apparatus is to be used in a clean area so that the clean area is not contaminated.
However, with cover type endoscope apparatuses, indications such that which apparatus should be used in a clean or general area have not been made. Therefore, working with a cover type endoscope apparatus is a frustrating operation such that the mental strain continues because the operator cannot make a quick judgment whether the apparatus should be used in a clean or a general area.
As shown in FIG. 1, a cover 100 which covers a cover type endoscope apparatus is formed of: an insertion portion cover portion 101 into which a Cover type endoscope insertion portion 111 is inserted; an operation portion cover 102, formed of a soft, thin resin sheet, which covers a cover type endoscope operation portion cover 112; and a universal cord cover 103, formed of a soft, thin resin sheet, which covers a cover type endoscope universal cord 113.
However, an operation for covering an operation portion of the cover type endoscope which has a complex curved surface or irregular portions with a sheet cover in a liquid-tight manner and in such a manner as to be capable of easily grasping it, or for covering a universal cord extending from the cover type endoscope, an extending tube disposed on the cover or the like integrally and in liquid-sealing manner, is a difficult operation requiring dexterity.